5 Things Employees Do That Really Annoy Bosses

Sure, we all get annoyed at the boss from time to time, but keep in mind that that frustration can go both ways. If you want to excel at work, get promotions, get raises, have good things happen to you and such, take a look at these five things that really annoy bosses and don’t do them:

Abusing Work Time

By far, the No. 1 pet peeve of bosses is chronic tardiness, and a close second is the employee who always leaves a bit early. Another abuse of work time is taking extended breaks, like long lunches or frequent smoke breaks. Not working during work costs your company money. Finally, calling in sick when you aren’t sick is an abuse of your work time and can really wreck your boss’s day.

Cyber-Slacking

A close relative of abusing work time is cyber-slacking. Even if you think reading personal email or social media, or watching a YouTube clip every once in a while is harmless, you’re actually costing your organization money. All those "just a few minutes" of checking throughout the day can add up. In fact, some experts say corporations lose an hour a day to random Web surfing.

Plus, cyber-slacking makes you lose focus on your work, and if your boss has to ask you to do something again, or correct it for you, she’s going to be annoyed. She's also not going to like having to check up on you to make sure you're actually working on work. And you probably already know this, but this goes for texts and personal calls as well. Little bits of stolen time add up and are a huge pet peeve for employers.

Being Lazy

Employees who lack enthusiasm are another big pet peeve for employers, because this lack of enthusiasm quickly translates to laziness. Lazy employees don’t check their work and submit error-filled reports or send embarrassingly incorrect messages to clients. A lazy worker doesn’t pay attention to communications the boss sends out and then forces the boss to repeat himself.

More annoying than that, a lazy employee will ask questions she could easily find the answer to on her own, wasting the boss’s and company's time. Employers can tell when you’re not happy with your work, and if you aren’t doing anything to find a way to be happy with your work and you're just slacking off instead, they’re going to be bothered by that and leave you behind when it comes time for raises or promotions.

General Lack of Maturity

This doesn’t rank quite as high as the tardiness peeve, but it probably should. Employees who are generally lacking in maturity are a huge annoyance for bosses and co-workers. These are the employees who don’t get along with the team or find faults in everyone. These workers annoy their bosses by complaining frequently and usually about the same thing over and over. It’s fine to say something to your boss if you have an issue with the way something is being done, but be ready to offer a solution and don’t make it a habit.

Employers get annoyed when their workers have poor hygiene and bad manners, especially if those workers meet with clients or work with customers directly. A person who lacks maturity will annoy everyone around her by bringing politics and religion into the workplace. Also, the immature employee who has a ridiculous amount of silly cubicle decor will appear to be less professional and easily distracted—not the kind of employee a boss likes to have around.

Asking Your Boss to Make Your Life Easier

And finally, another big one that probably hasn’t occurred to you is this: bosses get really peeved when employees ask them to make extra effort in order to make the employee’s life easier. If there’s something you want to ask for to make your job better or easier, don’t ask what the boss can do for you to make it happen. Ask the boss what you can do to make the change work.

Your boss has a lot on her plate, her own boss to answer to, and other employees to deal with. If she spent all day doing things to make everyone’s individual lives at work easier, she’d never get anything done. If you want to work from home, don’t ask your boss what she can do to make that possible for you, ask her what you can do to make it possible for her. You’ll get your way a lot faster because your boss won’t be annoyed by your request and she’ll have a harder time saying “no.”